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Volunteers needed for Sept. 15 Pike River Cleanup event

The Kenosha Sportfishing and Conservation Association is seeking volunteers for its annual Pike River Cleanup, to be held 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15.

This event, aimed at further improving the health of the Pike River, is supported by Kenosha County Parks and other partners. Volunteers will convene in Shelter No. 4 at Petrifying Springs Park, 5555 Seventh St., Somers.

Volunteers of all ages are needed to help remove trash, debris and logjams from the river, said Jim Zondlak, event organizer.

“I recently saw a T-shirt that said ‘life is for participating, not for spectating,’” Zondlak said. “This is a great opportunity for people to participate in something that directly affects the environment around us.”

This year’s cleanup comes as Kenosha County is in the midst of a project to restore the Pike’s streambank within Petrifying Springs Park.

This work includes erosion control measures and the planting of native vegetation to improve filtration. It is funded by grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Fund for Lake Michigan.

County Executive Jim Kreuser said major projects such as the streambank restoration, as well as volunteer efforts like the upcoming cleanup, all combine to improve Kenosha County’s environment and quality of life.

“I appreciate the initiative of the Sportfishing and Conservation Association, and the help of all of the volunteers who come out for these cleanup events,” Kreuser said. “Healthy, attractive waterways are one of the many boxes we can check when we think about why it’s great to live in Kenosha County.”

Since the annual Pike River cleanup began seven years ago, volunteers have removed more than 125 tires and 100 yards of trash from the stretch of the river between Petrifying Springs and Lake Michigan.

Volunteers are asked to bring work shoes or boots, work gloves, coveralls, hip boots or waders, reaching sticks or long steel rakes and, if possible, canoes, kayaks or flat-bottom boats.

The cleanup event is sponsored by the Kenosha Sportfishing and Conservation Association in conjunction with Kenosha County Parks, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network and American Rivers.